(Bloomberg) — Mark Carney, a former governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, will become an official adviser to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals on economic growth and productivity, the party announced Monday.
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Carney, whose name has been mentioned several times as a possible successor to Trudeau as party leader, will also speak to Liberal MPs this week as the caucus meets in British Columbia.
The new role is not a government position, but a position for the political party as it prepares for elections that could take place at any time next year.
Advising Trudeau is nothing new for Carney, who has spoken at numerous Liberal events over the years and has been in regular contact with the prime minister. In the summer of 2020, Bloomberg reported that Carney was informally advising Trudeau on how to pull Canada out of the economic shocks of the Covid pandemic.
Carney will now chair a task force to help “develop and shape ideas for the next phase of Canada’s short- and long-term economic growth and productivity strategy,” a party statement said. It said Carney will meet with leaders from business, unions, Indigenous groups and others and prepare a report.
Trudeau’s Liberals have struggled to recover in the polls as they prepare for an election. Rising housing costs, post-pandemic inflation and a surge in temporary immigration have all hurt the government’s popularity. Pierre Poilievre’s Conservative Party has built a big lead in opinion polls over the past year.
The New Democratic Party last week withdrew from a parliamentary power-sharing deal with the Liberals, tightening Trudeau’s grip on the country’s highest office. The government could fall unless it can secure support from one of the three main opposition parties in key votes.
Carney currently serves as chairman and head of transition investing at Brookfield Asset Management and as the UN special envoy for climate action and finance. He also holds a number of other philanthropic and corporate roles, including chairman of Bloomberg Inc.
The former central bank governor has not yet publicly declared his candidacy, despite Trudeau’s statements earlier this summer that he had been trying to recruit Carney as the Liberal Party candidate for years.
“Canadian Liberals have made real progress for all Canadians,” Carney said in the party statement. “With a winning growth plan, we can build the strongest economy in the G-7 and an even brighter future for everyone.”
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